Aldo (photo) remains UFC featherweight champion. Photo: Disclosure
Brazil's UFC title drought lasted just two days. José Aldo returned to sporting a UFC featherweight belt this Saturday night (9), at UFC 200. The Brazilian beat Frankie Edgar in the judges' decision to win the interim title in the 66 kg division.
With a precise and surgical performance, Aldo undermined his opponent throughout the five rounds of the contest, landing the best blows and repelling his rival's takedown attempts.
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After 25 minutes of action in the octagon, all side judges pointed to the Brazilian's victory. Thus, two days after losing the lightweight belt, Rafael dos Anjos, Brazil once again has a champion in the main MMA organization on the planet.
Upon receiving his new belt, Aldo dedicated the victory to his trainer, André Pederneiras, and I send a very direct message to the weight's lineal champion, Conor McGregor. “I have a single goal, which is to beat this s***. I guarantee that when we fight again, he won’t be as lucky as last time,” he commented.
The fight for the belt
The first round started with a lot of study on the part of both. While Aldo only launched his first blow after 30 seconds of action, Edgar walked forward and distributed low kicks. The North American initially took more initiative, but without achieving any more forceful blows. At the end of the round, Aldo was better off with a clean right to Edgar's face, plus a few knees that seemed to bother him.
Edgar started the second round again walking forward, while Aldo circled. The Brazilian seemed to be waiting for the best moment to strike, while Edgar tried to bother him with volume. The North American tried to grab his leg for a takedown, but Aldo easily interrupted. The two exchange hard blows in the center of the cage without any major consequences. Once again the round ends with the Brazilian landing the best blows.
Edgar starts the round attacking, but Aldo lands a good counterattack. Once again the North American was looking for the takedown, but once again without coming close to achieving it. Halfway through the round, Edgar gets a good moment and hits the Brazilian in the face. In the final moments, both athletes maintain their momentum, without many forceful attacks.
The fourth round sees both athletes starting at a slower pace, with isolated strikes and without much sequence. With three minutes of action, Aldo stands out by landing a good sequence of hands, which forces the American to look for the takedown – again, without success. At the end of the period, Aldo seemed to catch the time of the North American, who was looking to attack, but without hitting the Brazilian.
Edgar starts the last round looking to connect Aldo, possibly aware that he would be behind on the score. The Brazilian, however, appeared calm, evading attacks and counterattacking at precise moments. At the end of the fight, Edgar seemed frustrated: his hand attacks didn't bother Aldo, and he couldn't come close to taking the Brazilian to the ground.
In the end, the Brazilian took victory by unanimous decision from the side judges, recovering from the ghost of his defeat to McGregor in December 2015.
Velasquez massacres Ronda's boyfriend
Going through a complicated phase in his career, which included several injuries and the loss of the heavyweight belt, Cain Velazquez turned things around by massacring Travis Browne in the first round.
The former heavyweight champion started by walking forward and kicking his boyfriend's legs. Ronda Rousey. At one point, Velasquez surprised and threw a round kick to the head, which, followed by a few more punches, knocked Browne down.
Browne survived on the ground and managed to get up, but Velasquez continued to attack. The two tangled up and Velasquez went to the ground in a dominant position, so it only took a few more blows for the referee to stop the action.
It was Velasquez's first victory in the octagon since October 2013, when he had defeated junior gypsy in defense of his belt. Browne suffers the fourth defeat of his career.
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